Social Isolation and New Technology

Last month, the Pew Research Center released their findings on a study they had done to gauge whether or not internet and mobile phone use led to social isolation. This is particularly relevant to our discussion about Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone book. Putnam upholds the thesis that social ties are weaker now than they were 50 years ago (using the demise of bowling leagues as his star example.)

The argument now against Putnam's premise is that it is outdated; Bowling Alone was written prior to the explosion of the Internet, before Facebook or MySpace or Twitter. Putnam is crippled in his discussion now because of the ubiquitous use of social networking sites and the impact they have on our daily communications.

The Pew study updates Putnam's research, yet also negates it. The basis of the study was to explore issues that have not been probed directly in that study and other related research on social isolation: the role of the internet and mobile phone in people's core social networks.

Ultimately the results find that Americans are not as isolated as had been reported earlier, and I found a few points especially interesting and convincing:

• Whereas only 45% of Americans discuss important matters with someone who is not a family member, internet users are 55% more likely to have a nonkin discussion partners.
• In-person contact remains the dominant means of communication with core-network members. On average, there is face-to-face contact with each tie on 210 out of 365 days per year.
• Email, social networking services and instant messaging promote "glocalization" -- that is, they are used as frequently to maintain nearby core social ties as they are used to maintain ties at a distance.
• The use of social networking services to maintain core networks is highest among 18-22-year-olds. Thirty percent of 18-22-year-olds use a social networking service to maintain contact with 90% or more of their core influentials.
• Users of social networking services are 26% less likely to use their neighbors as a source of companionship, but they remain as likely as other people to provide companionship to their neighbors.
• Owners of a mobile phone, frequent internet users at work and bloggers are more likely to belong to a local voluntary group, such as a neighborhood association, sports league, youth group, church or social club.
• Compared to those who do not use the internet, most people who use the internet and use a social networking service, such as Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn, have social networks that are about 20% more diverse.

As someone who falls within the 18-22 year old demographic, I must agree with Pew's findings on our high rates of social networking use. In the future, I'd like to see them extrapolate this data across age demographics as well as comment on the quality of these interactions.

Benklar, Putnam, and Dunbar's Number

Benklar provides a comprehensive overview of the recent research and discussion around the growing use of online social networking and the critiques of its impeding destruction of social capital and face to face interaction.

After reading Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, I recognized a few key evolutions that have emerged since its publication. Although Putnam makes a legitimate argument in favor of social capital and the benefits it brings to society, particularly in terms of political participation, his arguments and fears are already outdated.

Benklar most strongly disproves Putnam's concerns by citing research that indicates most heavy Internet users spend the same amount of time with their friends and family as they did before their Internet use.

Another notable point that Benklar provides is that some connections made online have evolved to exist offline as well, with members of online networks arranging meetings in the real world to strengthen their ties. This behavior suggests that Putnam's concerns about the decline of face to face interaction leading to social capital is not only irrelevant, but perhaps backwards. The possibility of bringing online connections to life in the real world has the potential of increasing social capital by broadening the community of an individual and creating the possibility of expanding one's network to larger geographic, social, or political regions.

One point I find particularly interesting in this discussion is the measurement of the quality of these online relationships. In the beginning of Chapter 10, Benklar tells us that social networking has two effects. First, the strengthening of ties within one's own existing family and friendship circles. Second, there is an increase in the loose, limited-purpose relationships that are less important yet still meaningful to the individual. The ease of connecting with people once on the fringe of our network through sites like Facebook make it feasible to keep in touch with more people than ever thought possible before. Theories like Dunbar's number, which propose a limit to the number of quality connections one person can maintain at any given time, are being challenged with the advent of social networking and the ability to maintain relationships online. Having a database of one's connections throughout their lifetime could prove to be a useful networking tool or could end up being overwhelming.

I think this particular challenge will prove most prevalent in the Millennial generation, since we are the ones that have grown up online and been able to make those connections through Facebook as time goes on. Will we eventually be overwhelmed by the numbers of connections we've made, or will we find a way to use our robust network to benefit society and ourselves?